A witty woman once told me something which may well be the genuine secret of her sex: that in choosing a lover each one of her kind takes more account of how other women regard him than of how she regards him herself. permalink

Nicolas Chamfort

Maxims & Thoughts (1805) #373

After a certain age, any new friends we make in our attempt to replace the ones we've lost are like glass eyes, false teeth and wooden legs. permalink

Nicolas Chamfort

Maxims & Thoughts (1805) #303

All passions exaggerate; and they are passions only because they do exaggerate. permalink

Nicolas Chamfort

Maxims and Considerations (1796)

All that I've learned, I've forgotten. The little I still know, I've guessed. permalink

Nicolas Chamfort

Anyone who relies too heavily on reason to achieve happiness, who analyses it, who, so to speak, quibbles over his enjoyment and can accept only refined pleasures, ends up not having any at all. He's like a man who wants to get rid of all the lumps in his mattress and eventually ends up sleeping on bare boards. permalink

Nicolas Chamfort

Maxims & Thoughts (1805) #170

Anyone whose needs are small seems threatening to the rich, because he's always ready to escape their control. permalink

Nicolas Chamfort

Maxims & Thoughts (1805) #266

Both the court and the general public give a conventional value to men and things, and then are surprised to find themselves deceived by it. This is as if arithmeticians should give a variable an arbitrary value to the figures in a sum, and then, after restoring their true and regular value in the addition, be astonished at the incorrectness of their answer. permalink

Nicolas Chamfort

Maxims & Thoughts (1805) #199

Conscience is a dog that does not stop us from passing but that we cannot prevent from barking. permalink

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